The Godfather

So, having never seen The Godfather, I was pretty excited to watch it. There’s that whole thing in You’ve Got Mail about the movie, and a reference to it, in like every TV show and movie, ever. I was also looking forward to having a deeper understanding of The Godfather Part II.

So basically, The Godfather, is about a mob family called the Corleone’s, as the godfather or Don of the family (played by Marlon Brando) becomes increasingly ill, his son Michael (Al Pacino) gets drawn into the dark world of organized crime. I mean this probably wasn’t the original goal of the movie, but being in a mafia family looks like a hell of a lot of fun. You get to eat delicious food, and apparently all live together in a beautiful house. I mean as long as you don’t mind having a family member getting whacked off every once in a while.

Even though Marlon Brando was like 40 years older and 50 pounds heavier, you can still totally see his old attractive self peaking through.

Just look at those eyes! (And ignore everything else)

Even though the movie was incredibly entertaining, and pretty upsetting (Al Pacino was totally being a Raging Bull with his whole becoming a worse and worse person). I wasn’t sure if the Italian parts were supposed to have English subtitles? I mean I was actually watching a completely legit version of the movie (no I seriously was) and there were no subtitles. I mean I kind of got the gist, but they were talking in Italian for a long ass time, and I felt like I was missing out on the nuance, and the nuance is like the best part!

But I still enjoyed the movie none the less. And there are so many fun stories about the making! I’m sure everyone knows that they didn’t want Al Pacino to star because he was a complete unknown and all, originally James Caan who plays Sonny, was asked to play Michael. And Paramount did not want Francis Ford Coppola on this movie, with his “crazy” casting choices and all. But it’s actually super cute because all of Coppola’s children are in the movie, his daughter Sophia actually played the baby Michael in the baptism scene, which is super cute, and mildly confusing for a young girl. Oh and Marlon Brando, being the crazy man that he is, actually put dishes in the bottom underneath him in the scene where he is lifted up the stairs in bed, making him ridiculously heavy. Oh gosh, actors am I right?

So obviously, The Godfather was nominated for a million awards, because that’s just what happen to good movies. But Marlon Brando refused to go and accept his Best Actor award because of the way Native Americans were stereotyped in movies. I mean it sounds a little random, but maybe this is the reason Maggie Smith goes to the Emmy’s. Al Pacino was also a no show, but not for the Native Americans, he was upset that he was listed under the Best Supporting Actor category, even though he had way more screen time than Brando, which is super true, and you know I would be pissed too. But then again it’s his first major role and he got nominated for an Oscar? I would still go, I mean I would be angry, but I would go.

It’s weird but you don’t really hear about that many mob movies before The Godfather, and then after, boom! You got Goodfellas and a little show called The Sopranos, gosh look at you Godfather revolutionizing the movie industry and all. And then I had that moment when it clicked, like this is why everyone loves Al Pacino so much! His acting was pretty ridiculous, and so was everyone else’s, it was kind of annoying. I mean it was a damn good movie, and I was thinking in an Italian accent for sometime after the movie, so I think it did it’s job.